Department Headlines
Researcher and Graduate Student Present at International Meeting
Dr. Bill Marcotte and his graduate student Will Gaines presented posters and gave invited oral presentations at the Coiled-coils Collegen adn Co-proeins international conference in Alpbach, Austria (Sept 6-12, 2009). Dr. Marcotte presented a talk and poster entitled "Transgenic Expression of Recombinant Silk-like Proteins". Will Gaines presented "Biochemical and Structural Characterization of Spider Dragline Silk Proteins".
Clemson University is engaging in a bit of "tree diplomacy" with China. A team of Clemson scientists and students will travel to China to share research on boosting tree production. The USDA awarded $149,000 to Haiying Liang, a plant geneticist and biotechnologist in the genetics and biochemistry department at Clemson.
The project is to identify the crucial genes in certain coniferous trees that control the pace of reproducing. Ten students each year of the three-year grant will be selected to travel to China, visiting Chinese scientists who are applying genomics to improve valuable traits in wood plants, including fruit crops and forest trees. Read More...
Researcher Awarded NSF Grant to Study Enzyme in Eukaryotic Microbes
Dr. Kerry Smith, an associate professor in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, has been awarded a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation for nearly $740,000 to investigate the enzyme acetate kinase in eukaryotic microbes including the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans and the protist Entamoeba histolytica. Acetate kinase was previously thought to be present only in bacteria and one genus of archaea until the Smith lab recently identified this important metabolic enzyme in a number of eukaryotic microbes. The specific aims of this project are to understand the basis for the biochemical differences among the eukaryotic and bacterial acetate kinases and to determine the physiological roles of this enzyme in fungi and protists. Dr. Cheryl Ingram-Smith, a research assistant professor and an expert in acetate kinase enzymology, and Dr. Indi Bose, an assistant professor at Western Carolina University and an expert in Cryptococcus molecular biology, are co-principal investigators. For more information, see http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0920274.
Ph.D. Student and Mentor Present at International Meeting
Tessema Kassaw, a Ph.D. student in the laboratory of Julia Frugoli recently presented a poster at the 2009 Model Legume Congress in Pacific Grove, CA entitled "Isolation and characterization of the root controlled rdn supernodulation mutant of Medicago truncatula" Dr. Frugoli, a specialist in plant nodulation gave a talk entitled "The regulation of SUNN gene expression in Medicago truncatula" at the same meeting.
Ph.D. Student Presents at International Plant Biology Conference
Victor (Yi) Xu, a Ph.D. student in the laboratory of Dr. Haiying Liang recently presented a poster entitled "Genomic dissection of cell wall biosynthesis in yellow-poplar Liriodendron tulipifera L. at the American Society for Plant Biology (ASPB) annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii (July 18-22, 2009). Victor's work is focused on molecular characterization of two Liriodendron lignin biosynthesis genes, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) and sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase (SAD).
Researchers Awarded Grant for Genomics Colaboration
Dr. Haiying Liang and her collaborators from Department of Horticulture, Drs. K. Gasic, D. Bielenberg, and G. Reighard received a three-year USDA CSREES award to initiate and develop international collaborations between Clemson University and Chinese universities and research institutes in forest and fruit tree genomics. In addition to a research program aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of vegetative/reproductive transition in gymnosperm species with Beijing Forestry University, the award will support four student internships and two principle investigators on a two-week trip to China in the summers of 2010-2012. Interested students can sign up for Gen 490 (Special Topics in Genetics)/GEN 806 (Special Problems in Genetics) (one credit) in Summer I.
Ph.D. Student Presents at International Evolution Conference
Cynthia Climer, a Ph.D. candidate in the Lawton-Rauh laboratory, presented her dissertation research as an oral talk at the Evolution Meetings (joint annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB), and the American Society of Naturalists (ASN) held 12-16 June 2009 in Moscow, Idaho at the University of Idaho. Cindy presented work on Disentangling demography, selection, and recombination in Arabidopsis petraea.
Ph.D. Student Presents at International In Vitro Biology Conference
Man Zhou, a genetics Ph.D. student in the lab of Dr. Hong Luo gave an oral presentation at the 2009 In Vitro Biology Meeting held from June 6-10, 2009 in Charleston, South Carolina. The In Vitro Biology meeting is an international event focusing on the science, novel technologies, and advances of in vitro biology for both plants and animals. Man Zhou presented work on genetic engineering of turfgrass and rice with two novel antimicrobial peptides for plant disease resistance.
Six Graduate Students Receive CAFLS Fellowships
Six Ph.D. students in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry were awarded fellowships for the 2009-2010 academic year. Alexis Nagel was awarded the South Carolina Robert Coker Farm Bureau Foundation fellowship. Matt Fowler and Leanna Ledford were awarded the South Carolina Rural Rehabilitation Corporation fellowships and Cynthia Climer, Heidi Dodson, and Bode Olukolu were awarded the Wade Stackhouse fellowships.
Ph.D. Students Present at International Conference and Global Health Symposium
Todd Lyda and Heidi Dodson presented posters at the International Kinetoplastid Molecular Cell Biology Meeting in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Todd presented work on the Identification of a C-terminal Flagellar Targeting Sequence in Trypanosoma brucei Hexokinase and Heidi presented work on the Regulation of Gene Expression of Two Nearly Identical Trypanosoma brucei hexokinases, TbHK1 and TbHK2. Todd and Heidi also recently presented their work at the Symposium on Global Health at the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases meeting in Athens, Georgia.
NSF Grant Awarded to Population Geneticist for Evolutionary Study of Rice
Dr. Amy Lawton-Rauh, a population geneticist in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry was awarded a grant from the USDA for the study of the evolutionary dynamics of weedy rice in the United States. Dr. Lawton-Rauh's lab studies mechanisms shaping genetic variation at the population and species level. Her lab focuses on the interplay of effective population size, allele sharing among populations and species, and linkage disequilibrium by taking an empirical approach in plants.
Researchers Awarded Grants for CottonStudies
Dr. Anna Blenda and Dr. Xi Wang have been awarded grants from Cotton, Inc. for the development of the cotton microsatellite database and development of the added uses of cottonseed products. Dr. Blenda has been involved as the principle investigator for the development of the cotton microsatellite database which is used to develop molecular markers for use in plant breeding. Dr. Wang studies the uses of bioactive compounds and nutragenomics. Dr. Brandon Moore has also been awarded a grant from the South Carolina Cotton Board to study the enhancement of cotton growth for fiber production. Dr. Moore studies signal transduction mechanisms in model species of plants.